Two lawmakers, Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott (Wash.) and Steve Israel (N.Y.), announced their retirements this week, joining a parade of members of their party who will exit the House in 2017.

In an interview with the New York Times,Israel indicated that the current campaign finance system, with its never-ending fundraising demands, had an impact on his decision. “I don’t think I can spend another day in another call room making another call begging for money,” he said.

Israel wrote a satirical novel about Washington in 2014, which was favorably reviewed. Still, he played a major role in the system he bemoans as the chairman, from 2011 through November 2014, of the Democratic Campaign Congressional Committee — the main fundraising arm for House Democrats. During his tenure there, he raised more than $390 million for the party.

For his own campaigns, Israel has hauled in over $18.6 million since he first campaigned for Congress in 2000, spending all but about $1 million of that. After his first race, none of his opponents came close to raising as much as he did. PAC contributions have accounted for about one-third of the funds he’s brought in, CRP data show. Real estate interests, lawyers and law firms and the securities and investment industry have each invested more than $1 million in his congressional career.

As for McDermott, he indicated a general fatigue with the nation’s capital, though he said he believed he could win if he chose to run again. His office did not immediately comment when OpenSecrets Blog asked if his decision had to do with fundraising fatigue as well.

The former Navy psychiatrist did say he wished he could have done more for mental health patients. Health professionals, his largest benefactor by industry, have given him nearly $450,000 in donations over his career. And McDermott has looked out for physicians. Last June, he sponsored a bill that would appoint an outside advisory panel to oversee how physicians’ services are valued by Medicare. In some cases those valuations have been found to be unfairly low.

Since his first election in 1988, McDermott has raised — and spent — nearly $6 million; that’s far less than Israel over a longer period of time, reflecting in part, New York’s much more costly media markets as well as its deeper pockets. Microsoft and Boeing, both based in the Seattle area, have been among McDermott’s top donors, as have various unions (they account for nine of his top 20) and the trial lawyers’ group.

In contrast to Israel, about half of McDermott’s campaign funds have come from PACs and half from individuals.

Both McDermott and Israel, though, were closer to their districts than to Washington when it came to fundraising. Each received the bulk of their individual contributions from their representative states. McDermott brought in nearly a million dollarsfrom Seattle over his career, which dwarfs the $100,000 he’s raised from D.C. donors. Israel raked in almost $10 million from Long Island and New York City combined in the course of his congressional campaigns.

Israel has given a large chunk of his funds to the party. So far in 2016, he’s given the DCCC just over $250,000; in 2014, when he was still the party organ’s chairman, he gave nearly half-a-million dollars.

In retirement, McDermott says, he will pursue painting and sailing, while Israel indicated he’d do more writing. Both say they’re leaving politics with no plans to pass through the revolving door into a lobbying gig.

Correction, 1/7/16: Due to an editing error, the original version of this post said that Israel had raised half his funds from PACs over the course of his House career. The correct figure is one-third, and the text has been updated.

Alex joined CRP as a reporting intern in January 2016. Before that, she worked through the Brown Institute at Columbia University on a multimedia investigation of contemporary Iranian art, publishing several pieces resulting from the project in The Guardian. She has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia.

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